Literature
Showing 169–192 of 4074 results
-
Browse by Category
- Browse All
- Americana
- Art and Architecture
- Autograph Letters Signed
- Biography and Autobiography
- Children's Books
- Economics and Finance
- Featured Rare Books
- Fine Bindings and Sets
- First Edition
- First Edition>Signed
- Food and Wine
- Framed Autographs and Historical Documents
- Geography
- Gifts
- Gifts - For Her
- Gifts - For Him
- Gifts - Graduation and Celebrations
- Gifts - Holidays
- History, Law, and Politics
- Literature
- Music
- New Arrivals
- Philosophy
- Photography
- Poetry
- Presidents and World Leaders
- Religion
- Science and Natural History
- Science Fiction and Mystery
- Signed
- Signed & Autographed Books
- Sports and Leisure
- Travel and Exploration
- Uncategorized
-
"IT IS NOT DOWN ON ANY MAP; TRUE PLACES NEVER ARE": FIRST EDITION OF HERMAN MELVILLE'S MOBY DICK; in the rare red variant cloth
MELVILLE, Herman.
Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale.
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1851.
First edition, first issue binding of Melville’s masterpiece. Octavo, original red variant cloth (BAL’s A grain), covers stamped in blind with Harper’s circular device at the center of the front panel within a heavy blind ruled frame, plain white endpapers. Issued in a single volume, in black, green, blue, red, purple, slate or brown cloth, gilt. The first state of the binding has a circular device at center of covers that is absent from the second state binding. Much has been made of whether the earliest copies bound should have orange-coated end papers, but in fact there is no priority…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 142813
-
"One of the most important crime novels of the 20th century": First Edition of The Postman Always Rings Twice; Signed by James Cain
CAIN, James M.
The Postman Always Rings Twice.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934.
First edition of one of the most important crime novels of the twentieth century, adapted as a motion picture seven times. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly Signed by James M. Cain on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing to the crown. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A very nice example, rare and desirable signed.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 114122
-
“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat": Signed First Edition of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich; In the rare original dust jacket
HILL, Napoleon.
Think and Grow Rich.
Meriden, Conn.: The Ralston Society, 1937.
Rare first edition of this classic bestseller, which has sold over 100 million copies. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Napoleon Hill on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a very good dust jacket, with reinforcement to the verso. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable in the original dust jacket and signed.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 132909
-
"I hope that this book ain't so silly and that it will always remain in the cas[s]a": First Edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends, Signed by Shel Silverstein; Inscribed to the Children of His Editor
SILVERSTEIN, Shel.
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1974.
First edition of the author's first collection of children's poetry. Stated first edition on the copyright page. Small quarto, original brown cloth, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by Shel Silverstein with an original poem on the front free endpapers to the children of his editor and publicist William Cole, "For Alex and Rossa and Billy, I hope that this book ain't so silly and that it will always remain in the cas[s]a (The superfluous 's' has been scribbled out with footnote "Bill Cole's Incessant Editorial Meddling") of Billy and Alex Rossa (Not a bad rhyme for three such difficult names and…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 91344
-
“I know who I am and who I may be, if I choose": Deluxe illustrated Ibarra Edition of Don Quixote
CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de .
El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha: Nueva Edicion, Corregida Por La Real Academia Española.
Madrid: Don Joaquin Ibarra, 1780.
The deluxe illustrated Ibarra edition of Cervantes' masterpiece "which is to Spanish literature what Shakespeare is to English" (Bloom). Quartos, 4 volumes. Bound in full contemporary Spanish tree calf with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, red morocco spine labels, gilt ruled borders, marbled endpapers, all edges green, engraved frontispiece to each volume and 31 engraved plates throughout, 2-page folding engraved map of Don Quixote's travels to the rear of volume 1. Spanish printer Joaquín Ibarra made several important technical developments in press printing, book-making, typography and paper-making. In his printed work, Ibarra sought to achieve a perfect flow of…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 96763
-
“Hate is a lack of imagination": First Edition of Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
GREENE, Graham.
The Power and the Glory.
London: William Heinemann, 1940.
First edition of Greene's masterpiece. Octavo, original yellow cloth. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket with some toning and light wear to the spine crown. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Scarce in the original dust jacket and in this condition.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 118658
-
“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road": First Edition of Jack Kerouac's On The Road; Signed by Gary Snyder
KEROUAC, Jack [Gary Snyder].
On The Road.
New York: The Viking Press, 1957.
First edition of Kerouac's classic novel. Octavo, original black cloth. Boldly signed by legendary beat Gary Snyder on the half-title page. Near fine in an excellent near fine dust jacket with light wear. Jacket design by Bill English. An exceptional example, rare and desirable signed.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 131088
-
“IT MATTERS NOT WHAT SOMEONE IS BORN, BUT WHAT THEY GROW TO BE": FIRST EDITION OF HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE; INSCRIBED BY J.K. ROWLING TO BRYONY EVENS
ROWLING, J.K.
Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire.
London: Bloomsbury, 2000.
First edition of the fourth book in Rowling's acclaimed Harry Potter series. Octavo, original illustrated boards. Association copy, inscribed by Rowling on the half-title page, "to Bryony, who really did discover Harry Potter J.K. Rowling." The recipient, Bryony Evens was one of the first people to read the beginning chapters of the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, the first to recognize the work’s inherent value, and perhaps the most instrumental figure in getting the book published. Working at the time at Christopher Little Literary Agency, Evens was the first point of contact in receiving…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 115749
-
"Pain is truth; all else is subject to doubt": Waiting For the Barbarians; Inscribed by Nobel Prize-Winning Author J.M. Coetzee to his Wife
COETZEE, J.M.
Waiting for the Barbarians.
Johannesburg : Ravan Press, 1981.
First South African edition of this modern classic. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author to his first wife on the title page, "Philippa love from John." Philippa Jubber and John Maxwell Coetzee were married in 1963. They had two children, Nicolas (1966–1989) and Gisela (b. 1968). In 1965 Coetzee entered the graduate school of the University of Texas at Austin, and in 1968 graduated with a PhD in English, linguistics, and Germanic languages. His doctoral dissertation was on the early fiction of Samuel Beckett. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with some toning to the spine.…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 133608
-
“Love of life is born of the awareness of death, of the dread of it": First Edition of The Spy Who Loved Me; Inscribed by Ian Fleming
FLEMING, Ian.
The Spy Who Loved Me.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1962.
First edition of the ninth novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Peter To Cheer him up! From Ian." Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket art by Richard Chopping. Housed in a full morocco clamshell box, the front panel mimicking the dust jacket. Rare and desirable signed and inscribed by Ian Fleming.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 37032
-
"Whatever the weather served, that was what they ate": Rare First Edition of CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS; SIGNED BY JUDI and Ron BARRETT With Original Drawings
BARRETT, Judi. Illustrated by Ron Barrett.
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.
New York: Antheneum, 1978.
First edition of this children’s classic. Oblong quarto, original cloth, illustrated. Signed by Judi Barrett, with an original drawing of clouds and meatballs and by the illustrator Ron Barrett on the front free endpaper and on the pastedown on a bookplate with an original drawing Fine in a fine dust jacket. Housed in a half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. First editions are exceptionally rare, we have never seen another signed by both authors and with drawings.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 139534
-
First Edition of Lady and the Tramp; Boldly Signed by Walt Disney, Bill Justice Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Eric Larson, and Woolie Reitherman
DISNEY, Walt; Ward Greene [Bill Justice].
Lady and the Tramp: The Story of Two Dogs.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1953.
First edition of Lady and the Tramp, boldly signed by Walt Disney, Bill Justice and four of Disney's nine old men: Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Eric Larson, and Woolie Reitherman. Octavo, original cloth, with charming illustrations by Joe G. Rinaldi. Signed by Walt Disney on the title page in crayon and on the front free endpaper by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in crayon, Woolie Reitherman in pencil, and Eric Larson and Bill Justice in pen. Foreword by Walt Disney. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A unique example.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 140785
-
“And roots, if they are to bear fruits, must be kept well in the soil of the land": First Edition of Pearl Buck's The Good Earth; Inscribed by Her
BUCK, Pearl S.
The Good Earth.
New York: John Day, 1931.
First edition, first issue with "flees" for "fleas" on page 100, line 17 of the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and masterpiece. Octavo, original brown cloth, illustrated endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed and dated by Pearl Buck on the half-title page. Buck also underlined the error "flees" on page 100, and marked it with an arrow on the left margin. It is interesting to note that Buck knew the first issue points and makes note of it. Near fine in the original dust jacket with some tape repairs to the verso. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 80122
-
“If you don't know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn": First Edition of Atlas Shrugged; Inscribed by Ayn Rand
RAND, Ayn.
Atlas Shrugged.
New York: Random House, 1957.
First edition of one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century. Large octavo, original green cloth, frontispiece stamped in gilt, spine stamped in black and gilt. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Maurice D. Sabbah -Cordially- Ayn Rand 1/15/63." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by George Salter. An exceptional example.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 147909
-
“Don't you know that everybody's got a Fairyland of their own?”: Rare First Edition of Mary Poppins; Signed by P.L. Travers
TRAVERS, P.L.
Mary Poppins.
New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1934.
First American edition of this children's classic. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 27 line cuts (13 full-page) and chapter tailpieces by Mary Shepard. Boldly signed by P.L. Travers on the front free endpaper. Very good in a very good dust jacket with some light rubbing and wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 96590
-
"The world had changed to silver, and life ceased to be a struggle and became a gay adventure": First edition of Nella Larsen's Quicksand; inscribed by her
LARSEN, Nella.
Quicksand.
New York & London: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928.
First edition of Nella Larsen's first book. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To my friend Harriet S. Wright, this tale of pride, prejudice and passion Nella Larsen." First editions of any of Larsen’s works are rare, as she disappeared from Harlem's interracial literary and arts community after her ex-husband’s death in 1942. Struggling with depression, Larsen stopped writing, returned to her previous career in nursing, moved to the Lower East Side and did not return to Harlem. Many of Larsen's old acquaintances speculated that she, like some of the characters in her fiction, had crossed the…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 95263
-
The Collected Works of Joseph Conrad; first editions of each volume finely bound in full morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe
CONRAD, Joseph.
The Collected Works of Joseph Conrad. [Almayer’s Folly, An Outcast of the Islands, The Nigger of “Narcissus”, Tales of Unrest, Lord Jim, The Inheritors, Youth: and Two Other Stories, Romance, Typhoon and Other Stories, Nostromo, The Mirror of the Sea, The Secret Agent, A Set of Six, Under Western Eyes, Some Reminiscences, ‘Twist Land & Sea Tales, Chance, Victory, Within the Tides, The Shadow Line, The Arrow of Gold, On Day More, The Rescue].
London: Various Publishers, 1895-1920.
Rare finely bound first edition collection of the writings of Joseph Conrad including a first issue of Almayer's Folly. Octavo, 23 volumes bound in full crushed crimson levant morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt banes, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, ribbons bound in. Each volume is a first edition with the original cloth covers and spines bound in at the rear of each volume (with the exception of Almayer's Folly and Tales of Unrest). In near fine condition. A stunning set. Rare…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 118074
-
“AMONG THE BEST EVER WRITTEN FOR CHILDREN”: FIRST EDITIONS OF A.A. MILNE’S FOUR POOH BOOKS, IN ORIGINAL DUST JACKETS; The Winnie the Pooh Signed by Milne
MILNE, A.A.; Illustrated by Ernest Shepard.
The Four Pooh Books: When We Were Very Young; Winnie-The-Pooh; Now We Are Six; The House At Pooh Corner.
London: Methuen & Co., Ltd, 1924-1928.
First editions of each work in Milne's wonderful Pooh quartet. Octavo, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt. Winnie the Pooh is signed by A.A. Milne on the title page. When We Were Very Young if a first edition, second issue as usual with page ix numbered. Each are fine in very good dust jackets with some loss and wear to the extremities and light toning. Illustrated by Ernest Shepard. An exceptional set, most rare and desirable with Winnie the Pooh signed by Milne.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 95227
-
“We all have souls of different ages": First Edition of The Beautiful and the Damned; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
FITZGERALD, F. Scott.
The Beautiful and the Damned.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922.
First edition, first state of the author's second novel. Octavo, original green cloth, titles to the spine in gilt. Near fine in a near fine first issue dust jacket with some light restoration to the crown of the spine, contemporary name to the front free endpaper. Jacket illustrated by W.E. Hill. Uncommon in the original dust jacket and in this condition.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 137601
-
"Love, Jerry Salinger": Scarce autograph note signed and entirely in the hand of J.D. Salinger; signed by him two months and two days before he saw combat at Utah Beach on D-Day
SALINGER, J.D.
J.D. Salinger Autograph Letter Signed.
1944.
Scarce autograph note signed by J.D. Salinger on April 4, 1944, two months and two days before he saw combat at Utah Beach on D-Day. One page from an oblong octavo autograph album bound in full leather, the note is dated 4/4/44 and reads, "Dear Molly - I just don't have anything bright to say. But I'd like to send you some of my work, and I'd like to take you to a nice place in London where we might get pretty drunk and mellow. Maybe later in The War or after. I'd like that. You remind me of very…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 117208
-
First Edition of The Second Part of Cervantes' Masterpiece the History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-Errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha
CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de.
Second Part of The History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-Errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha.
London: Printed for Edward Blount, 1620.
First edition of the second part of Cervantes' masterpiece in English. Oblong duodecimo, bound in half leather over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, black and green morocco spine labels. In near fine condition, lacking the engraved title with several words faintly missing on p. 160 [an original printing flaw], slight trimming to the bottom lines of the first signature, and a bookplate to the front pastedown. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 145724
-
Rare George Orwell Typed Letter Signed
ORWELL, George.
George Orwell Typed Letter Signed.
June 1945.
Rare typed letter signed "Geo. Orwell", to Gerry Byrne announcing that "my wife died three months ago, very suddenly and unexpectedly", writing about the aftermath of her death including his relief that their son Richard was too young to to miss her ("...He is now 13 1/2 months old and is extremely well. He has twelve teeth and is almost able to walk..."), apologising that he cannot come to speak at a Labour Party campaign meeting ("...I am up to the eyes in the election myself, apart from other work. I don't even know of anyone suitable..."), 1 page, 4to,…
Price: $19,500.00 Item Number: 142701
-
"but like the bard who freely sings in strictest bonds of rhyme and rule and finds in them not bonds but wings": The Problem of Pain; signed and inscribed by C.S. Lewis with a quotation from Coventry Patmore's poem The Angel in the House
LEWIS, C.S.
The Problem of Pain.
London: The Centenary Pres, 1941.
Early printing of Lewis's classic discussion of the nature of good and evil; inscribed by him with a quotation from Coventry Patmore's poem The Angel in the House which had a profound influence on the development of Lewis's Christian beliefs. Octavo, original publisher's cloth. Signed by C.S. Lewis with a quotation from Coventry Patmore's poem The Angel in the House, "They live by law, not like the fool, But like the bard who freely sings in strictest bonds of rhyme and rule and finds in them not bonds but wings - Patmore C.S. Lewis April 1944." First published in 1854,…
Price: $19,500.00 Item Number: 143183
-
First Edition of Philip K. Dick's Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said; Signed by Him
DICK, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, Inc, 1974.
First edition of this novel which won the John W. Campbell Award and nominations for the Hugo and Nebula. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Philip K. Dick on the front free endpaper. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a touch of shelfwear. Jacket design by One Plus One Studio. An exceptional example, uncommon and desirable signed.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 101435